- Digital Lifestyles Reference Guide
- Home Audio
- Audio Standards
- Dolby Surround Sound
- DTS Surround Sound
- THX
- MP3
- Windows Media Audio (WMA)
- Advanced Audio Coding (AAC)
- Digital Rights Management (DRM)
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Audio Analog/Digital Components
- Receivers
- DVD-Audio Players
- CD/SACD Players
- Making Your Decision
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Audio Component Integration
- Standalone Components
- Internet Radio Receivers
- Connecting a PC to Your Home Stereo
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Home Video
- Video Standards
- DVD versus VCD
- MPEG-1 and MPEG-2
- DTV
- HDTV
- HDTV Buying Tips
- Video Out: Composite, Component, and S-Video
- CSS Explained
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Video Components
- Playback Components
- DVD Players
- Personal Video Recorders (PVRs)
- VHS
- Laser Discs
- Media Center PCs
- What's New in Media Center 2005
- Video-on-Demand (VoD)
- Screens
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- A/V Integration
- Home Theater
- Component Integration
- Universal Remotes
- Combining Home Theater with Home Computing
- Making Your Decision
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Home Theater PCs
- Uses for an HTPC
- Components of an HTPC
- Windows Media Center PCs
- Build Your Own HTPC
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Rear Projection Televisions
- CRT Projectors
- DLP Projectors
- LCD Projectors
- LCoS Projectors
- Choosing the Right RPTV Technology
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Multimedia Networks
- Connecting Your PC Network to Your Home Theater System
- Investing in Media Center Software
- What if Your PC and Home Theater are in Different Rooms?
- Media Center Extenders
- Multimedia Appliances
- Making the Connection
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- PVRs, Consoles, and Media Extenders
- Finding the Right PVR
- Types of PVR Solutions
- Set Top Box PVR
- Portable PVRs
- DVD-Recorders
- Making Your Decision
- Getting the Most from Your TiVo
- Networking Your TiVo
- Transfer Video from TiVo to PC at Home
- Transfer Video from Your PC to TiVo
- Transferring Video from TiVo to a PC Anywhere
- Burning DVDs of TiVo Recording
- Watch TiVo Shows on a iPod Video Or Sony PSP
- Software PVR Solutions
- Required Features
- Optional Features with Advantages
- Software PVR Options
- Conclusion
- 10 Things You Didn't Know About the Xbox 360
- Xbox 360 Networking Tips
- Mobile Computing
- Notebook Computer Audio
- USB Audio
- FireWire Audio
- PCMCIA Audio
- Making Your Decision
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Broadband
- High-Speed Internet Options
- Cable
- DSL
- Cellular Data Services
- Satellite
- Wireless ISPs
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Video Subscription Services
- Today's Options
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Voice over IP
- Softphone VoIP
- InformIT Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Home Automation
- Home Automation Applications
- Types of Home Automation Systems
- Automation Features
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Home Automation Security
- Making Your decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Digital Photography
- Digital Cameras
- Megapixels
- Camera Bodies
- Batteries
- Zoom Lenses
- Auto Focus vs. Manual Focus
- LCD Screens
- Exposure Settings
- White Balance
- Storage Formats
- Wi-Fi-enabled Digital Cameras
- Purchasing the Right Digital Camera
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Digital Photo Editing Tools
- Photo Organizers
- Photo Editing Suites
- Deciding Which App to Use
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Digital Photography Tips
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Editing Digital Photographs
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Prints From Digital Images
- Making Your Decision
- Digital Video
- Camcorders
- Camcorder Features You Shouldn't Be Without
- Recording Formats
- DV Camera Tools
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Digital Video Editing Tools
- Features to Look For
- Popular Video Editing Software
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Using Video Vault to Port Content to Portable Media Players
- 10 Tips to Improve Digital Video
- Weblogs and Podcasting
- Overview of Weblogs
- Blogs as Text
- Blogs as Pictorials
- Blogs as Audio
- Blogs as Video
- Getting Started
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Blogging Tools
- Hosted Services
- Desktop Tools
- Hosting Your Own Blog
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Photo Blogging
- Photo Blogging Services
- Hosted Services with Photo Support
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Audio Blogging
- Blog By Phone
- Recording Your Own Audio Blog Posts
- Audio Hosting Services
- Podcasting
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Recording and Distributing Podcasts
- Recording Software
- Before Recording
- Recording Your Podcast
- Publishing Your Podcast
- Podcasting Features in Apple's iTunes
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Video Blogging
- Video Blogging By Webcam
- Creating a Video Blog From Scratch
- Video Hosting Services
- Distributing Video Blogs
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Attracting Traffic to Your Blog
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Blogging Rules for Revolutionaries
- How Blogging will Change the World
- Create a Link to This Site Campaign
- Meta Tag Your Revolution
- New Comment Posted
- Coordinate Your Efforts
- Repeat, Repeat, Repeat
- Portable and Handheld Devices
- Motorola ROKR: iTunes on Your Phone
- ROKR iTunes Features
- Cell Phone Standards
- Making Your Decision
- Manufacturer Resources
- Sony PSP
- PSP Navigation
- PSP as a Gaming Platform
- PSP for Movies
- PSP for Music
- Wireless Networking
- Bottom Line
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Online Resources
- Portable Digital Audio Players
- Types of Players
- File Formats
- Popular Models
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Integrating an iPod with a Car Audio System
- Auxiliary Line In Connections
- CD Changer Connection Integration
- Custom Integration
- Making Your Choice
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Online Resources
- Portable Entertainment Centers
- Screen Sizes
- Hard Disk Space
- File Formats
- Video Recording
- Battery Life
- Connection Options
- Additional Accessories
- Making Your Choice
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Online Resources
- PDAs
- Fancy Features
- Palm OS or Pocket PC?
- Palm OS Models
- Pocket PC Models
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Smartphones
- Different Types of Smartphones
- PDA/Phones
- Phone-Based Smartphones
- Cool Ways to Improve Your Windows Mobile Smartphone
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Cellular Network Technologies
- FDMA
- CDMA
- TDMA
- GSM
- iDEN
- PCS
- Dual Band and Dual Mode Phones
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Hi-Speed Wireless Data Plans
- Cingular Plans
- Verizon Wireless Plans
- Making Your Decision
- Low-Tech Alternatives to Cell Phone Feature Overload
- High Tech Watches
- Smart Watch Technology
- MSN Direct
- Popular Smart Watches
- Other Types of High-Tech Watches
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Portable Audio Recording
- Features
- Editing Features
- Effects
- Devices
- Making a Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Handheld GPS Receivers
- GPS Features
- ABCs of GPS
- Making A Choice
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Portable Gadgets for Holiday Giving
- PDA Accessories
- Portable Music Players
- iPod Accessories
- Headphones and Earbuds
- Other Cool Portable Gadgets
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Automobiles
- Satellite Radio
- How Satellite Radio Works
- XM Radio Programming
- SIRIUS Satellite Radio Programming
- XM Radio Receivers
- SIRIUS Receivers
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Satellite Navigation Systems
- How GPS Works
- Doing the Math
- Using the GPS Data
- Popular Automobile GPS Systems
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- In-Car Computers
- Software
- Cases
- Power Interface
- LCD Screen
- Human Interface Options
- Storage Media
- Networking
- Audio
- Video
- Bluetooth
- Making Your Decision
- Online Resources
- E-Commerce
- Find Free Music — Legally
- Record Label Sites
- Blogs
- Podcasts
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Subscription Audio Services
- Making Your Decision
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Digital Wallets
- The History of Digital Wallets
- What is a Digital Wallet—and How Does It Work?
- Who Offers Digital Wallets
- Books and Online Resources
- Identity Theft
- How Your Identity Can Be Stolen
- What an Identity Thief Does With Your Personal Information
- Preventing Identity Theft
- What to Do If Your Identity Has Been Stolen
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Online Shopping Fraud
- Why Online Shopping Is (Generally) Safe
- Reporting Online Shopping Fraud
- Top Ten Tips for Safer Online Shopping
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Online and Desktop Mapping
- Web-Based Maps
- Desktop Maps
- Making Your Decision
- eBook Formats and Readers
- Formats
- eBook Hardware
- Sources of eBooks
- Making Your Decision
- 10 Google Maps Hacks
- Robotics
- Robots You Can Buy (or Build) Today
- Toy Robots
- Home Automation Robots
- Do-It-Yourself Robots
- Industrial Robots
- Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
- Books and e-Books
- Online Resources
- Additional Resources
- Predictions for 2006
- Jake's Digital Lifestyles Reading List
- Jake's Top Ten Digital Lifestyles Web Resources
- 10 Things on the Digital Lifestyle Holiday Wish List
- 2006 Consumer Electronics Show Preview
One of the biggest challenges of the Web is getting more people to visit your site. Call it a homepage, a blog, a Website or whatever the buzzword du jour may be, if no one visits, does your blog really exist? As someone who makes my living blogging, here are a few of the strategies I use to help find new visitors and keep people coming back for more.
Be Interesting
This is the only intangible tip I'm providing in the list. There's no surefire method for grabbing a reader's attention, although there are plenty of ways to lose that attention. Being interesting is number one on my list here because it's the most important thing you can do to get traffic. It sounds cliché, but writing about your cat or writing about what you had for breakfast has a very limited audience. Write things to engage your readers and they link to you on their own blogs, they will tell friends about you and most importantly they will come back for more. This doesn't mean your blog shouldn't exude personality - quite the opposite; telling a story about how your daily life fits into the subject of your blog is perfect for an interesting blog post.
Be Consistent
Consistency is a two part solution to bringing in boatloads of readers and generating many return visits. One part of consistency is posting regularly. One or two posts every day provide readers with a steady diet of your insights in a digestible size and it gives search engines a reason to visit your site frequently and keep you indexed. The second part of consistency is something I wrestle with regularly. I have a core interest in audio and video, occasionally veering into a wide range of other subjects depending on what's going on in my life. While I strongly encourage everyone to lead a diverse interesting life, keep your blog focused on whatever your core topic happens to be. If you find yourself regularly veering into a particular topic, start a second blog dedicated to that topic and consistently update it with posts related to the second topic. For instance if your primary blog is about golfing and you always post about golfing, but you are widely interested in food and start wanting to post about food on a regular basis; start a second blog about food. Some of your readers from the golf blog may love your food posts, but people are reading your blog because you write about golf, not because of your recent food fetish.
Don't Give Everything Away in RSS
Robert Scoble won't subscribe to your feed if you don't deliver full text RSS, but most people will, as long as you provide enough to keep them interested. Partial text encourages the reader to come to your blog site, read your thoughts and respond in your comments. A second reason to avoid full text feeds is content thieves. There are companies who build entire sites by scraping content from RSS feeds and posting it as their own. If you post only part of the feed with a link for the rest of the story, when your content is scraped by one of these automatic site generators, you also get a link from their page to your blog.
Comment on Other Blogs
I have a love hate relationship with spam. For most of my own blogging, I take the arrogant opinion that if you really want to comment on something I've said, you can post your comments on your own blog and link to what I wrote about. I get fewer comments this way, but I also don't get nearly as many rude comments because people are less likely to call you names when the comment is directly attributed to them.
On the other hand, if someone posts something I feel strongly about on their blog and they do allow comments; I make my comments on their blog. The key is to do this with attribution. By attributing your comments to you, you generate credibility with other people who both agree or disagree with you. As people read blogs, they will see your name associated with your comments and possibly click through and visit your blog. Never comment anonymously. If you don't want your name associated with something you said; don't say it.
Submit Your Feed to Blog Search Engines
It seems like a new blog index appears on the Web every few hours. Each of these services promises to help get your blog more visitors with the best search available. Reality is slightly different. There are a number of places you want to have your blog posts indexed, including the obvious Google, Yahoo and MSN triad. At the top level of blog search, Ice Rocket, Feedster and Technorati all offer outstanding service. Probably the best list of directories to submit to is Robin Good's RSSTop55 which is a list of 55 important places to submit your blog feed.
Use Social Bookmarking Services
Social bookmarking is an area of the Web a little like voodoo. There's no clear path of success, although it can translate to massive amounts of traffic. Basically these sites require you to set up an account where you maintain a list of links. You assign tags to each link based on the subject matter of the link. For instance, if you wrote a blog post about fishing in the rivers near the Cascade Mountains, you might add a link to that post in a social bookmarking service and tag it 'fishing,' 'river,' 'mountains,' and 'Cascades'. The so-called social aspect comes into play because you can see what everyone else using the service identified with the same tags. If people search on a particular tag, they will see your link in the list along with everyone else's. The horribly named del.icio.us is the best known of these services, widely used by people all over the world.
Another popular component of these sites is voting. Registered users of the service vote on posts, filtering popular items to the top pages of the site. Digg is a technology focused site with a voting scheme that will potentially drive tons of traffic to a popular post. BlinkList is a similar service with a broader base of topics.
Tag Your Feeds
Another emerging trend in traffic generation is the general concept of tagging. Blog search sites like Technorati use tags to help generate meaningful search results. Instead of going to Technorati's site and adding my post to an account, make the tag designations locally on your blog. Using the fishing example above, if I want Technorati to lump my post in with other posts related to fishing, I would add a link in the post that specifies the tag like this:
<a href="http://technorati.com/tag/fishing]" rel="tag">fishing</a>
Notice the last word in the link is 'fishing' which is my tag and the rel="tag" tells Technorati that link is a tag. I repeat the tag name in the visible text for the link which takes anyone who clicks on the link to Technorati's results for the tag 'fishing'.
Subscribe to Your RSS Feed
As silly as it sounds, one of the smartest ways to make sure other people will find your blog is by subscribing to your own RSS feed in every online aggregator. My Yahoo, MSN and Google Reader are probably the most important on the list, but don't overlook sites like Bloglines and Newsgator Online. There are dozens of smaller sites with Web based news readers all with niche audiences so if you happen on one, take the time to subscribe your site.
Use Ping Services
Ping services are sites on the Internet that accept announcements from blogs about a new post. Most blog software automates this process, automatically sending an announcement to the known sites accepting pings. This ping information is used by a variety of services to keep track of the latest updates across the Web. One way to maximize your pinging is by using a service called Ping-o-Matic. By pinging the Ping-o-Matic service you automatically send update notifications out to as many as 22 sites. Be careful not to ping too often though; many ping services will block you if your pings become over zealous.
Remind People You Exist with Email
I started blogging backwards. My site was the way I got people to read my newsletter, first at Lockergnome and now independently. The role is slightly reversed now. Instead of the newsletter being a destination, it's a starting point. Subscribers receive the newsletter, which summarizes stuff on the site and drives traffic back to posts on the site. In the old way of doing things, the days when the newsletter went out were the primary form of exchange between reader and information. Days when no newsletter went out were fairly devoid of traffic. Today, the days when newsletters are published still represent bigger traffic spikes, but in general the traffic from one day to the next is consistently higher because of all the other things I do to generate traffic to the site.
My publishing is mostly automated, but a newsletter may be an extra step some people don't want to hassle with. A free service called Bloglet makes this a painless process. Bloglet collects subscriptions through a form on your blog. Instead of sending out a newsletter, Bloglet sends out an email to subscribers automatically, letting them know about new posts on the site.